This exercise served as an opportunity for each of the state’s community health centers and other independent outpatient health care providers to assess their ability to remain operational in the aftermath of a commercial fire severely damaging their principal facility. The primary purpose of the exercise is to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each center’s Continuity of Operations Plan.

Exercise Scenario

At 10:37PM on Sunday a motorist driving past your health center’s primary location notices smoke coming from a vent on the top of the building. Using his cell phone the motorist calls 911 to report a fire.

Within several minutes of notification the fire department has arrived. Upon sizing up the scene and establishing an Incident Command firefighters begin to battle the conflagration that is consuming your building.

Because the fire is proving more difficult to extinguish than originally thought, the Incident Commander asked for additional resources. A second alarm is sounded and the supplementary firefighters and equipment arrive. It takes another 21 minutes before the fire is extinguished.

At 7:49AM on Monday the first arriving staff members are shocked to see that their workplace has been severely damaged. They stand in the parking lot waiting for someone to give them direction as to what they should do.

Exercise Conclusion

The Clinic Conflagration Tabletop Exercise was conducted at locations throughout the State of Florida in the afternoon of October 6, 2010.

This exercise is an example of the kind of exercises that comprise the nationwide Caduceus Shield Exercise Initiative. This initiative provides meaningful exercise opportunities for America’s health system.